US watchdog to pay anti-extremist UK group in settlement

BIRMINGHAM: A liberal watchdog group is apologizing and paying more than $3 million after labeling a British organization and its founder as anti-Muslim extremists.

The Southern Poverty Law Center issued statements Monday saying it was wrong to include the London-based Quilliam and Maajid Nawaz in a “Field Guide to Anti-Muslim Extremists.” The publication was released in 2016.

An agreement released online by Quilliam shows the Alabama-based law center is paying $3.4 million in a settlement. Quilliam says the money will be used to fight anti-Muslim bigotry and Islamist extremism.

Nawaz was once involved with radical Islamist groups but changed his views and started Quilliam, which challenges both Islamist extremism and anti-Muslim bigotry.

Nawaz tweeted a video in which he asks the law center to join its work against extremism.